An old house yields surprises in Ipswich

A half dozen etchings of ships are just one of the items that are helping a local historian date an old house being dismantled and moved to a new foundation.

By Wendall Waters

An old house being dismantled on Water Street has yielded some surprises, including etchings of ships on the outside wallboards and an old shoe incased behind the inside walls. These are fun surprises, yes, but they are also helping local historian Sue Nelson date the house.

The dwelling at 8 Water Street, owned by Jim and Patsy Faria, is known as the Sutton House. Nelson believes it was constructed in three phases. The northern portion, she believes, dates to between 1673 and 1684. The southern portion appears to have been built around 1720. Sometime later, an addition was added.

Jim Whidden, of James Whidden Woodwright, is currently dismantling the house bit by bit to move it to a new foundation forward on the lot. He's even taking apart the house's four fireplaces and chimneys brick by brick and keeping track of where each one was located so the fireplaces can be reassembled to their original specifications. No small feat considering the main cooking fireplace and chimney have an estimated 15,000 bricks.

One of his workers, Charlie Maliska, who will be heading back to school at Drexel in Philadelphia this fall, discovered the etchings of the ships on the outside of the wall boards and notified Whidden. There are about a half dozen. Who drew them, when and why is a mystery. But, because the Pingree Shipyard was located in the front of the property for many years, the drawings may be another clue that will help Nelson date the house.

As he goes along, Whidden is making note of details that will help put the puzzle together. Chamberd beams with lambs tongue, the cooking fireplace with baking ovens located in the back, and split lathe and plaster walls are just some of the features that will help place the house in history.

And, then there's the shoe. It's possible, Whidden said, that the shoe was placed inside the wall for good luck. By determining when that style of shoe was worn, it's possible to determine when construction or renovations may have been done on part of the building.

For Nelson, dating houses is a passion and she's having a field day with the Sutton House.

"It survived under all these layers so we get to study it," she says.

She finds the elevated cobblestone foundation particularly intriguing. The house was built into a slope. In one room, the flooring rests on the ground on the slope side and the cobblestone foundation is built above it.

Over the years, Nelson says, homes sustain water damage. Part of the restoration of the house will include replacing some of the framing. Whidden will handle the framing, flooring, doors and other interior work. But, a mason will put the fireplaces back together.

Wendall Waters of The Ipswich (Mass.) Chronicle can be reached at wwaters@cnc.com.